The exemplary embodiment relates to print media evaluation and finds particular application in connection with a system and method for making predictions for suitable device settings (e.g., device parameters and/or set-up routines to be followed for establishing the device parameters) for a printer in a fleet of printers, based on feedback from the fleet of printers.
Often, print-related services and solutions entail providing onsite resources to a customer operating one or more printers, such as software, hardware and personnel, to assist the customer in ensuring that their printers function properly. In addition, numerous print-related services and solutions may operate autonomously, even though they utilize similar delivery mechanisms and backend connectivity. As such, providing print-related services can often be costly and inefficient.
Customers often have a wide choice of suppliers and types of print media (“stock”) for their printers. However, some stocks perform better than others for a given model or configuration of printer, or under particular environmental conditions, and the customer cannot easily predict whether a new type of stock will work well on the customer's printer.
Currently, customers spend considerable time determining optimal machine settings for each stock by trial and error. While they may obtain some assistance from a service technician, this can delay the setting up of a printer for the stock. Additionally, the technician may not have up-to-date, accurate information, since when a given customer finds better settings for a particular stock, that information is not shared with other customers.
There remains a need for a system and method for sharing information on machine settings and set-up routines in a way which can be utilized across a fleet of printers.